HG and Robotech Debates

[Funkenstein]

Id like to see a Uwe Boll version of Robotech. It'll have Valkyries smashing into the World Trade Center and some jokes about Chinese pop singers.

[Einherjar]

Who cares about these people who are not that important or talented? People who believe in the franchise care more about where Robotech is going, not some fans who think they have a greater standing because they suck up the right people and need to be taken seriously. That's really why they frequent the usual sites. Sorry, they're not important at all.

Again, I find it funny that so many Robotech fans approve of Macek futzing with Macross (because that produced a TIMELESS CLASSIC) but now DEMAND that WB not futz with Macek's futzed-up version.

Isn't it ironic? Doncha think?

Well, a lot of people forget that he's not as talented as Robotech made him to be. I welcome the possibility that more and more people may find out about Robotech's dirty little secrets as the LAM trickles along. Asians made Robotech, and they're pissed and alienated by the international legal owners of the material. Good luck trying to do something with that.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Einherjar

[jenius]

Um... Asians are still making Robotech... let's not racialize this too much. Robotech doesn't have a huge and rabid fan base... and there aren't many people in Japan who give a crap about what happened to Macross outside of Japan. I'm sure there are some business men who lament the haphazard contracts that were written but I don't think there's some brewing national sentiment of "They took our JOBS!" going on.

[Jasonc]

To Kamikaze Kamujin, I don't even see how if Memo was paid a little on the side by HG really means a big conspiracy of not. As someone who gets tons of this type of info all the time, Memo as an employee isn't something that is one of them. Out of respect of privacy, I know where Memo works, and what he does, and punching a clock at HG isn't part of it. Now, maybe he gets alternative payment in goods and services for his participation, maybe even getting some money in small forms for specific things, but he's not on HG's payroll. If you have a source, send me a pm message, and I'll keep it between us, and maybe fill you in on what is and isn't verifiable.

There's reasons why I don't advertise info like that. 1)It serves no purpose for such trivial info, 2) If you can't verify the source, it stays just as a rumor. Just my opinion on that, but like I said, if you wanna hash through facts, I can provide quite a bit.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Jasonc

[SIGHUP]

To Kamikaze Kamujin, I don't even see how if Memo was paid a little on the side by HG really means a big conspiracy of not. As someone who gets tons of this type of info all the time, Memo as an employee isn't something that is one of them. Out of respect of privacy, I know where Memo works, and what he does, and punching a clock at HG isn't part of it. Now, maybe he gets alternative payment in goods and services for his participation, maybe even getting some money in small forms for specific things, but he's not on HG's payroll. If you have a source, send me a pm message, and I'll keep it between us, and maybe fill you in on what is and isn't verifiable.

There's reasons why I don't advertise info like that. 1)It serves no purpose for such trivial info, 2) If you can't verify the source, it stays just as a rumor. Just my opinion on that, but like I said, if you wanna hash through facts, I can provide quite a bit.

I'll have to second this, I've know and met the guy since 07 and talk on a regular basis. I concur he is not on the payroll.

[Seto Kaiba]

If that son of a bitch gets his motherf*cking hands on that franchise, I will simultaneously projectile vomit and have a case of explosive diarrhea.

Okay, what I want you to do is keep a video camera handy just in case they announce a director. I'll wager that the guys who run CollegeHumor would want a video like that.

Again, I find it funny that so many Robotech fans approve of Macek futzing with Macross (because that produced a TIMELESS CLASSIC) but now DEMAND that WB not futz with Macek's futzed-up version.

Isn't it ironic? Doncha think?

Quite... tho the knowledge that Harmony Gold has been working long and hard to cultivate that attitude by waxing poetic about how the visionary director Carl Macek "improved" the "flawed" original with his rewrites does go a long way toward eroding the ironic amusement value.

Okay, could you possibly tell me everything in PM?

I know quite a lot about memo too... a good portion of it

would make you double facepalm from the idiocy alone

Did you actually hear back from him? I haven't yet... and it's doing nothing for his credibility.

[areaseven]

Meh. Roger Christian would be a much better director for a Robotech LAM.

[Einherjar]

Um... Asians are still making Robotech... let's not racialize this too much. Robotech doesn't have a huge and rabid fan base... and there aren't many people in Japan who give a crap about what happened to Macross outside of Japan. I'm sure there are some business men who lament the haphazard contracts that were written but I don't think there's some brewing national sentiment of "They took our JOBS!" going on.

Not to drag this on or anything, but HG's "appreciation" for their contribution has not improved even recently. Even if he was trying to be funny at the time, Tommy Yune did blame them for some of the questionable work on Shadow Chronicles, specifically the CGI and, *ahem,* character proportions. In response, I'd blame him for a poor quality control sense since he let it slide to be seen by the world.

My point is that HG does not respect those who do the grunt work for them, which in this case includes the crews and creators who did the most important work on the original shows that turned into Robotech.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Einherjar

[Seto Kaiba]

Talos just brought a very interesting article to my attention with regards to this whole Sylvain White business:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25574

Let me highlight the important part for you... it seems like not all of the folks out there are quite as dense as Harmony Gold would like them to be:

ROBOTECH

At that same press conference, director Sylvain White mention he was interested in directing a film based on the mid-80s syndicated TV series. "The project is not fast tracked. There is no official thing. They sent me a draft and I liked it. It's a work in progress," said the director. IESB got a little more information about which set of characters would be featured in the film. "It's the first generation," he said. Reportedly, Harmony Gold, the company that owns "Robotech," is prohibited from producing new material featuring the first generation characters that originally come from "Super Dimension Fortress Macross" as the "Macross" story is owned by another company. Of course, this being movies, deals could have been made for a live action feature.

Someone needs to send this to Maverick and MEMO, and make sure it gets posted in that wonderful "information" thread on RobotechX. They'll poo bricks. ;-)

[Robelwell202]

Someone needs to send this to Maverick and MEMO, and make sure it gets posted in that wonderful "information" thread on RobotechX. They'll poo bricks. ;-)

Done.

http://www.robotechx.com/forums/3-robotech...10&start=10

[hulagu]

Talos just brought a very interesting article to my attention with regards to this whole Sylvain White business:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=25574

Let me highlight the important part for you... it seems like not all of the folks out there are quite as dense as Harmony Gold would like them to be:

Someone needs to send this to Maverick and MEMO, and make sure it gets posted in that wonderful "information" thread on RobotechX. They'll poo bricks. ;-)

The "reportedly" part sounds like editorializing to me. I don't think HG is openly acknowledging that fact, and wonder if the writers involved are aware of that issue.

Edited April 6, 2010 by hulagu

[Seto Kaiba]

The "reportedly" part sounds like editorializing to me. I don't think HG is openly acknowledging that fact, and wonder if the writers involved are aware of that issue.

As far as openly acknowledging it, they haven't recently said anything... the closest they've ever come to just flat out saying it was Carl Macek's Robocon 10 interview where he said straight up that the reason the Macross Saga characters had to be given new designs in Sentinels was because they couldn't use the original Mikimoto designs. It does sound like editorializing, but whoever's doing it is obviously smart enough to do some digging before reporting their findings.

[Macross007]

The statement in the first page regarding the original Macross intellectual property rights need to be corrected. Why ? Because intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks, author rights, etc. With the japanese court rullings we know that both harmony gold/tatsunoko and Studio Nue/Big West are the owners of Macross intellectual property rights. We know that harmony gold/tatsunoko own the copyright, trademark and the economic rights part of the author rights outside of Japan for SDF Macross. In short, harmony gold/tatsunoko own the economic rights of the original Macross outside of Japan. Studio Nue/Big West only own the moral rights part of the author rights. Moral rights are, in that case, Macross design elements like mecha and character designs. So saying that "the intellectual property rights for SDF Macross still resides with Big West" is an inaccurate statement that need to be corrected in order to reflect the reality.

P.S.: I know you know that people but I think the correction must be done in an effort to avoid confusing other people regarding the Macross-roboteh legal mess.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Macross007

[Seto Kaiba]

With the japanese court rullings we know that both harmony gold/tatsunoko and Studio Nue/Big West are the owners of Macross intellectual property rights.

Correction is necessarily if and only if you want to split hairs about the exact definition of intellectual property rights. In order to keep the summation of the situation as accessible to the average reader as humanly possible, I'm included to say that the present wording is more than adequate. Your badly-worded summary of the situation just makes things worse, since the copyrights involved vary in scope, with Tatsunoko's being EXTREMELY limited, and unless something has changed recently Tatsunoko doesn't have partial ownership of Harmony Gold's trademark on the "Macross" name and logo in the US. The summary that we have is correct in the parts that actually matter... ie, the rights that would allow usage of the copyrighted designs, concepts, characters, etc. are held by Big West/Studio Nue, not Tatsunoko or Harmony Gold.

Unnecessary hair-splitting is only going to make things harder for those looking to get a straight answer as to whether or not Harmony Gold and/or Warner can use the story, characters, and mechanical designs of Macross in their pending projects.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Seto Kaiba

[taksraven]

Done.

http://www.robotechx.com/forums/3-robotech...10&start=10

These turdburgers have had their fingers in their ears going LA LA LA at the tops of their lungs for years now, I don't see them changing their tune anytime soon....

Taksraven

[Seto Kaiba]

These turdburgers have had their fingers in their ears going LA LA LA at the tops of their lungs for years now, I don't see them changing their tune anytime soon....

Granted, the most devoted of Tommy Yune's toadies are never going to accept the simple fact that Harmony Gold simply can't use the Macross characters, mecha, story, etc. in future Robotech works. No doubt they'll go on trying to convince everyone that Harmony Gold voluntarily opted not to use the familiar designs and mecha from the only part of Robotech that the fans care about. The real objective of interrupting their bizarre moon logic with nice big doses of truth and hard facts isn't to convince them that their views are wrong... it's to protect the average fan and casual reader from mistaking those idiots for credible sources of information.

[Macross007]

Correction is necessarily if and only if you want to split hairs about the exact definition of intellectual property rights. In order to keep the summation of the situation as accessible to the average reader as humanly possible, I'm included to say that the present wording is more than adequate. Your badly-worded summary of the situation just makes things worse, since the copyrights involved vary in scope, with Tatsunoko's being EXTREMELY limited, and unless something has changed recently Tatsunoko doesn't have partial ownership of Harmony Gold's trademark on the "Macross" name and logo in the US. The summary that we have is correct in the parts that actually matter... ie, the rights that would allow usage of the copyrighted designs, concepts, characters, etc. are held by Big West/Studio Nue, not Tatsunoko or Harmony Gold.

Unnecessary hair-splitting is only going to make things harder for those looking to get a straight answer as to whether or not Harmony Gold and/or Warner can use the story, characters, and mechanical designs of Macross in their pending projects.

All I'm trying to say is that using a term like "moral rights" should be more appropriate since the term refer directly to Macross design elements. "Intellectual property rights" is too vague and people are going to be lost anyway. Hence, I was able to fully understand the Macross-robotech legal mess just by making the difference between copyright and moral rights. By using the "intellectual property rights, we are over simplying the situation. The statement in first page does not explain well how tatsunoko was able to license SDF Macross to harmony gold in the first place. Even the official japanese court rulings confirm that tatsunoko own the copyright for SDF Macross not Big West.

P.S.: Made a mistake with that trademark thing. Sorry.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Macross007

[Einherjar]

Um, why try to challenge the Frick and Frack when people know how they're going to shamelessly respond to them? Why mention them at all; that's giving them more attention than they really deserve. Plus, they can "prove you wrong."

About the LAM, even if something more significant than gossip, which I admit I started here and am sorry for, happens, no one is going to see any results from it by the end of the year or even next year. And I mean real results, not publicity photos of actors and crew getting approached and putting out a blurb about it, like what happens now. Evidence that work is being done, like in magazines or shows like Access Hollywood and crap. Though if it becomes newsworthy for The Soup, it's probably not a good thing.

[Jasonc]

I think the sum of what the possible director was saying is that HG has restrictions on creating Macross works, like a LAM. Whether the exact terminology is used in his statement is bean counting here, and if people are gonna argue over that, it's fine. However, that's not gonna cover up, or change the fact that THERE ARE RESTRICTIONS, and they are there. In that sense, yes, there is a "read it and weep" in some sense, although, not sure why. This has been easy common knowledge on these boards and by many, many others out there for a long time.

I'm sure they can always make up some excuse that he doesn't know what he's talking about cause he's not a true Robotech fan. Afterall, only true Robotech fans understand the licensing issues. I swear, it's like pissing in the wind and calling it a statewide rain storm.

[azrael]

Let me highlight the important part for you... it seems like not all of the folks out there are quite as dense as Harmony Gold would like them to be:

...

Someone needs to send this to Maverick and MEMO, and make sure it gets posted in that wonderful "information" thread on RobotechX. They'll poo bricks. ;-)

Unfortunately, they neglect to indicate what "new material" is. Keep in mind, toys, comic books, novels, etc, are considered new materials and derivative works. They cannot create works using those designs beyond that which doesn't involve SDFM. It can only relate to SDFM and nothing else. As I said, I don't think they quite understand how it works.

Correction is necessarily if and only if you want to split hairs about the exact definition of intellectual property rights. In order to keep the summation of the situation as accessible to the average reader as humanly possible, I'm included to say that the present wording is more than adequate. Your badly-worded summary of the situation just makes things worse, since the copyrights involved vary in scope, with Tatsunoko's being EXTREMELY limited, and unless something has changed recently Tatsunoko doesn't have partial ownership of Harmony Gold's trademark on the "Macross" name and logo in the US. The summary that we have is correct in the parts that actually matter... ie, the rights that would allow usage of the copyrighted designs, concepts, characters, etc. are held by Big West/Studio Nue, not Tatsunoko or Harmony Gold.

Actually, it does need to be corrected. As I said here (seriously, people should read those links I posted), using the term "intellectual property" is terribly vague term and bound to cause misunderstandings. But at the same time, making it more complicated probably won't help people understand it. But yes, it does need to be corrected.

[chrisk]

This may very well be a silly question, but where does MEMO and Mav really stand in the whole Macross license ownership? Does they believe HG owns all the merchandising and design rights to Macross? A recent post on RTX confused me...

Edited April 6, 2010 by chrisk

[Seto Kaiba]

This may very well be a silly question, but where does MEMO and Mav really stand in the whole Macross license ownership? Does they believe HG owns all the merchandising and design rights to Macross? A recent post on RTX confused me...

Unless they've changed their respective positions since last I "spoke" with them, their positions can best be described as varying degrees of self-delusion. I don't think they've ever stuck to one specific assertion... though they do both believe that Harmony Gold can use anything and everything in the original Macross series in any way they want. Maverick tended towards trying to twist whatever anyone was saying to him to fit his views, pointing to Sentinels as "proof" Harmony Gold can use the original Macross designs (even going so far as to deny that Carl Macek's Robocon 10 interview says what it literally says, that Harmony Gold had to make new designs because they couldn't use the original ones). MEMO is much more fixed in his ways... his favorite tactic is to cite badly-edited videos of Tommy dodging the question at conventions as proof positive that Harmony Gold can use Macross any way they want, and in a pinch he essentially asserts that Big West/Studio Nue's copyrights have no force outside of Japan (essentially, that international copyright law doesn't exist), that the court rulings say the opposite of what they do, and/or that Harmony Gold went back to Tatusnoko in 2001 and "expanded their rights" to Macross to include the original designs.

[HappyPenguins]

Unless they've changed their respective positions since last I "spoke" with them, their positions can best be described as varying degrees of self-delusion. I don't think they've ever stuck to one specific assertion... though they do both believe that Harmony Gold can use anything and everything in the original Macross series in any way they want. Maverick tended towards trying to twist whatever anyone was saying to him to fit his views, pointing to Sentinels as "proof" Harmony Gold can use the original Macross designs (even going so far as to deny that Carl Macek's Robocon 10 interview says what it literally says, that Harmony Gold had to make new designs because they couldn't use the original ones). MEMO is much more fixed in his ways... his favorite tactic is to cite badly-edited videos of Tommy dodging the question at conventions as proof positive that Harmony Gold can use Macross any way they want, and in a pinch he essentially asserts that Big West/Studio Nue's copyrights have no force outside of Japan (essentially, that international copyright law doesn't exist), that the court rulings say the opposite of what they do, and/or that Harmony Gold went back to Tatusnoko in 2001 and "expanded their rights" to Macross to include the original designs.

Proof? lol Robotech wouldn't be in the position it is if HG were able to use the original characters and designs.

They wouldn't have killed all the macross characters off in the PTSC series if HG had permission to use them now would they?

Rick Hunter would look like an older version of himself, not a re-designed unrecognizable sack of crap in TSC.

The damn proof is everywhere, what more do they want? I mean I don't get it, how is that so hard to see?

How can anyone deny that evidence?

Hell the description I keep hearing about the live action movie is that its a RE-IMAGINING isn't that also enough proof? I mean besides the fact its going to suck if it ever gets made, but that's another rant.

The solution to this "denial" is acceptance, and as for myself? Been there, done that and it sucks

just as much as it sucked when I found out that RT was not original but three different series combined into one story.

[Wanzerfan]

I see no one liked my South Park reference, and yes, I know it was rather disgusting. I just have an abject hatred for Uwe Boll, mainly because he's like King Midas in regards of sh*t instead of gold.

Also keep Verhoeven's hands off of it; the only good work to come out of him in a long time was that black comedy, the original Robocop.

On the other hand, I would like to see Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's vision of this franchise.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Wanzerfan

[Saraphys]

This is so cute...

Rhade actually thinks he knows something...

I guess the fact that only Beltane is left to update the "Macross Calander" thread never dawned on the F*tard... Whats more funny, is that "Mr knows-it-all" claims to know the events, but doesn't go and contribute like those of us who have been banned use too...

[Funkenstein]

Quentin Tarentino version of Robotech would have Minmay as a hooker, and Rick Hunter as a former pilot for Los Zetas.

[Wanzerfan]

This is so cute...

Rhade actually thinks he knows something...

I guess the fact that only Beltane is left to update the "Macross Calander" thread never dawned on the F*tard... Whats more funny, is that "Mr knows-it-all" claims to know the events, but doesn't go and contribute like those of us who have been banned use too...

Thanks for reminding me that I still can't log on (those schmucks didn't have the courtesy to delete the account, they permanently froze it).

[Gubaba]

This is so cute...

Rhade actually thinks he knows something...

I guess the fact that only Beltane is left to update the "Macross Calander" thread never dawned on the F*tard... Whats more funny, is that "Mr knows-it-all" claims to know the events, but doesn't go and contribute like those of us who have been banned use too...

I guess Rhade missed all that "Well, the Bodalzaa Fleet has been defeated so let's jump ahead two years" stuff.

[Maxtype]

On the other hand, I would like to see Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's vision of this franchise.

Frank Miller's Robotech!

Lisa Hayes:troubled ex-whore.

Minmay:Whore,stripper,singer with troubles. Probably also a ninja.

Roy Fokker:Foul-mouthed ex Special Forces,now Fighter Pilot With A Secret.

Rick Hunter:Young Fighter Pilot with a Dark Past.

The Captain: THIS! IS! ROBOTECH!

Actually,this is already better than TSC.

[Einherjar]

In the grand tradition of glorifying every piece of Robotech news that comes up these days, Sylvain White and Robotech get one paragraph each in an article about Voltron LAM being delayed. Apparently, to an anime source, it's so unimportant that it doesn't deserve its own posting.

Voltron's Live-Action Film Plans Rebooted (Oh, and Robotech)

Well, they could be related somehow to justify them being put together. But Oh my Gawd, TWO PARAGRAPHS!

Unless they've changed their respective positions since last I "spoke" with them, their positions can best be described as varying degrees of self-delusion. I don't think they've ever stuck to one specific assertion... though they do both believe that Harmony Gold can use anything and everything in the original Macross series in any way they want. Maverick tended towards trying to twist whatever anyone was saying to him to fit his views, pointing to Sentinels as "proof" Harmony Gold can use the original Macross designs (even going so far as to deny that Carl Macek's Robocon 10 interview says what it literally says, that Harmony Gold had to make new designs because they couldn't use the original ones). MEMO is much more fixed in his ways... his favorite tactic is to cite badly-edited videos of Tommy dodging the question at conventions as proof positive that Harmony Gold can use Macross any way they want, and in a pinch he essentially asserts that Big West/Studio Nue's copyrights have no force outside of Japan (essentially, that international copyright law doesn't exist), that the court rulings say the opposite of what they do, and/or that Harmony Gold went back to Tatusnoko in 2001 and "expanded their rights" to Macross to include the original designs.

I'd just say they're whipped and made the whole situation more personal at this point. Besides, why would their stance matter since they just act like pretentious bullies moderators most of the time?

Edited April 6, 2010 by Einherjar

[Moly_Sigang]

I recently checked some of Doug's recent podcasts and apparently, to him, the legal disputes is just a big hoax supposedly concocted by Seto and his Macross Groupies. And that Seto falsified the court documents to trick the RT fandom. I guess Doug doesn't even try to do some research because there are an @ssload of sites that reference to the court ruling as to why HG can't use any Macross elements in any animated or live action works.

And what's up with this BS about HP supposedly hired a hitman to kill him.

Edited April 6, 2010 by Moly_Sigang

[Gubaba]

I recently checked some of Doug's recent podcasts and apparently, to him, the legal disputes is just a big hoax supposedly concocted by Seto and his Macross Groupies. And that Seto falsified the court documents to trick the RT fandom. It seems Doug doesn't go anywhere else beyond RT.com.

And what's up with this BS about HP supposedly hired a hitman to kill him.

On RTX, I suggested that people stop complaining about him and just tune him out if they didn't like him.

Actually, what I said was:

Well, those who imagine themselves persecuted often get to the point where they merit ACTUAL persecution.

And he feeds off of the attention.

If everyone is ganging up on him, he can feel embattled and beleaguered, and righteous. If no one is ganging up on him, he'll try to provoke people to the point where they will.

But he's been banned from the most important Robotech forums, as well as Macross World. His podcast is the only voice he has. Wanna take away all his power? You know what to do.

And then Happy Penguins said:

but hit men are expensive =[

Personally, I think HP crossed a pretty big line there, since Robotech fans are wont to go off half-cocked a lot of the time, but it was still obviously a joke. Doug is smart enough to see that, so I doubt he'll throw a big weeping hissy fit about it.

[taksraven]

Also keep Verhoeven's hands off of it; the only good work to come out of him in a long time was that black comedy, the original Robocop.

Total Recall?? Starship Troopers?????? *Sigh*

Taksraven

[Jasonc]

On RTX, I suggested that people stop complaining about him and just tune him out if they didn't like him.

Actually, what I said was:

Well, those who imagine themselves persecuted often get to the point where they merit ACTUAL persecution.

And he feeds off of the attention.

If everyone is ganging up on him, he can feel embattled and beleaguered, and righteous. If no one is ganging up on him, he'll try to provoke people to the point where they will.

But he's been banned from the most important Robotech forums, as well as Macross World. His podcast is the only voice he has. Wanna take away all his power? You know what to do.

And then Happy Penguins said:

but hit men are expensive =[

Personally, I think HP crossed a pretty big line there, since Robotech fans are wont to go off half-cocked a lot of the time, but it was still obviously a joke. Doug is smart enough to see that, so I doubt he'll throw a big weeping hissy fit about it.

While the implication is there, there is not direct threat, just a vague statement about prices of hitmen. While it does seem over the top, there's a big difference between "All Macross Purist should be hung" and "Death to all Macross Purists" vs. "But Hit men are expensive" You gotta be quite the sissy to make the biggest issue in the world out of that latter statement. Even the direct statements, while direct and full of enough negativity to invalidate everything that person says, they're regarding a cartoon. I find it quite funny when people make these online threats and try to talk tough over the internet. Half these people would piss their pants if in a real situation. Most people I know that back their stuff up don't talk this way online. Why do you think the whole podcast bile from some RT podcasters makes them more retarded the more they talk? Just my opinion. but I think there's some validity to it. Much more than many would care to admit (especially those in question).

[Gubaba]

While the implication is there, there is not direct threat, just a vague statement about prices of hitmen. While it does seem over the top, there's a big difference between "All Macross Purist should be hung" and "Death to all Macross Purists" vs. "But Hit men are expensive" You gotta be quite the sissy to make the biggest issue in the world out of that latter statement. Even the direct statements, while direct and full of enough negativity to invalidate everything that person says, they're regarding a cartoon. I find it quite funny when people make these online threats and try to talk tough over the internet. Half these people would piss their pants if in a real situation. Most people I know that back their stuff up don't talk this way online. Why do you think the whole podcast bile from some RT podcasters makes them more retarded the more they talk? Just my opinion. but I think there's some validity to it. Much more than many would care to admit (especially those in question).

Enh, no offense, but I think you're putting too much thought into it. Happy Penguins is often acerbic, crude, and ruthless in her insults. Anyone who has seen her posts realizes this. As such, anyone who gets offended is just doing it because they like feeling butthurt, not because they're actually offended.

I'm hoping Doug will do the adult thing and just shrug it off; there's no sense in acting like Life's Delicate Child over something this silly.